Supporters of Zambian President elect Hakainde Hichilema celebrate his victory in Lusaka. [Gianluigi Guercia, AFP]
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has won a second term, results showed on Tuesday, after a tumultuous election that saw his main challenger mount an unexpectedly strong showing and vow to contest the outcome.
Hichilema took around 60 percent of the vote, similar to his score at the 2021 polls when he won his first five-year term, the electoral commission said.
His closest challenger was leader of the main opposition NRPUP party and former government minister Brian Mundubile, who scored around 38 percent.
While Thursday's vote was largely peaceful, the opposition said intimidation and restrictions marred its campaign, concerns echoed by international election observers, including the European Union.
"We will now place that evidence before the appropriate legal institutions and pursue every lawful avenue available to us within the prescribed period," Mundubile said in a statement.
"We will ask the necessary questions. We will demand the necessary answers and we will defend the votes entrusted to us."
The NRPUP earlier told AFP the 55-year-old was "in a secure location under the protection of an international human rights body due to threats made against him".